Summer is the best time of year for traveling. If you wanted a thrilling, hot summer then you could travel down southwest to Vaikoln’s affluent capital and experience the beautiful beaches, listening to the pulse of the ocean’s waves and sinking weary feet into pure, soft sand. On the outskirts of the wondrous capital of Zalatine lay a variant of villages, full of country festivals and secret bazaars for the eyes of those lucky enough for a decent bargain. However, travelling a few leagues to the north, an inch or so to the east, the wealthy cove of Asa Baushey will shine in your peripheral, crushing humbleness and all things common. If instead you wanted a cool and collected summer overflowing with chilled snow and vast mountains, Asarian Frost is the place for you.  Even in the strong dew of the summer, the north is bounded by limitless snow, caressing it's nice pine green trees in a strong, translucent freeze. Sure, going a little south would lead to much warmer choices, but a city full of metal and smog, or a miner’s lodge doesn’t seem appropriate for a lovely summer trip. Now, if you wanted a city full of crazed, rotten immortals that want nothing more than to rip into your mortal body and consume your flesh, then Sogara-dai is the place to go.

“What a great start to a great summer,” Rigesh murmured as he packed his bags into the trunk of Morio’s steam trunk. It was modified to be durable enough to travel long distances, and accommodate six people and their supplies.

Morio leaned on the hood of the truck, arms crossed nervously. “I can’t believe we really signed our death warrants. Why did we do that?”

“Because we’re currently out of work.” Rigesh replied, looking into the distance to where the crumbled airport lay, smoke and haze still stagnant in the air.

Morio dragged a calloused hand down his face and grimaced. “Then let’s take a paid vacation chasing after village girls outside the city. Why did we throw away such a golden opportunity?”

Rigesh ran a hand down the side of his amber pistol. “My pistols are the only weapons besides Miss Shunra’s sword and magic that work on those cannibals.”

“Pistols? Did you finish the black one overnight?” Morio asked.

“No,” he shook his head then shrugged, “but I’ll work on finishing it on the long ride over.”

The older man sighed, rubbing his hand down his face once more. “Well, let’s make sure it's finished by then. It’s over a week long drive through all that rough terrain and there is no telling how long we’ll be on the road before we reach some small village to rest.”

With a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder, Rigesh showed him a small, confident smile. “It’ll be done as long as you etch the Water Rune for me.”

“What? C’mon man, your Water Runes are proficient enough.”

“But they’re not steady and refined like yours. I’ve only had luck with the rune you etched on the first one.”

Morio snorted. “You’re just lazy.”

Rigesh waved a dismissive hand. “No, no, you’re just that good.”

Elanya and her group arrived at their meeting spot a few minutes later. Nemedion was holding onto two crates of supplies while the two women held several bags full of necessities. Between the three of them, there were two duffle bags, three backpacks and one large satchel that seemed to hold their magical supplies. Rigesh checked his watch, noticing their departure time was quicking upon them and their second healer had yet to show up.

“We are ready to depart,” Elanya said, stoically.

“We’re waiting on Yahna still,” Morio said, looking down at his own watch in distrust “though I don’t know why she even volunteered knowing that she would be late.”

Nemedion placed the bags carefully within the trunk of the steam truck, placing some of them on top of each other to make more space. He turned and motioned to Orantal with pride. “We already have one of the best healers in the University, possibly in the whole Eastern front, we don’t need another one.”

“We need to preserve as much magic as possible. Orantal will tire out having to constantly heal four people and need more time to recover.” Elanya explained, narrowing her eyes in annoyance at her dreaded friend. “Let’s wait a few moments longer.”

Morio rolled his eyes, checking the time with his own watch. He wished that he didn’t have to deal with Yahna, but because she was efficient in her medical knowledge, they would be stupid to ignore her help. But he knew that she was not the most reliable person when it came to people outside of her own needs. 

“Yahna is always late,” he complained, “even when our lives depend on it, she can’t ever be on time.”

“Wait!” They all turned to a running Yahna, exhausted by dressed with perfection. It was obvious by the amount of makeup, and clothing bags, that she spent too much time worrying about her appearance and what she would wear to a wasteland. Shaping her slender hourglass body was the tightest blue dress they had ever seen. Her matching blue heels were two inches, short but still troublesome enough to strain her walking as they dug deep into the ground. If she was going to die, she wanted to die looking nice in case someone found her body.

“I’m sorry!” She ran to Rigesh, expecting some sort of affection but he moved out of her way and closer to the door of the steam truck.

“This is serious, Yahna. Why are you dressed like that?” He pointed at her face. “We are literally about to go out for days on end with no showers and you took time to waste painting your face like a clown.”

“Oh, please! I have to look good wherever I go, Rig.”

Nemedion scowled at the two, interrupting their bickering. “Enough. Let’s just go already.”

They all settled into the giant steam truck with room to spare in the trunk. The third row had Elanya in the back, polishing her sword while Nemedion sat across from her, watching her silently. Rigeshd decided to sit in the front passenger seat so he could help navigate with Morio. Orantal sat in the second row with Yahna, who sat in the seat directly behind Rigesh, instantly irritating the hell out of him.

As they made their way through the city limits and on to the outskirts, they watched the lovely shades of grass change into a faded array of green. Most of the areas outside of Yulin-dai were large forests with dirt paths spread out to the North and South leading to smaller towns and villages. They weren’t sure how long they had to travel in order to fully see the corruption of Sogara-dai, but maybe after a couple of hours of travel they would have some clue of how bad Gong-dai had gotten in over three hundred years. Rigesh wondered if the corruption had gotten close to his hometown since the cannibals had travelled so far. By car, he knew that his home was half a day of travel north. Conflicting emotions rumbled in his brain as he questioned whether he should have checked in on his parents before he left on the mission. Well, it’s too late now. Maybe one of his coworkers will write to his father if he didn’t come back eventually. He hoped it didn’t come to that.

The ride was silent as they carried on to the dirt path heading west. The long minutes turned into hours, which turned into almost a full day without speaking. They were divided into two groups, both strangers to the other. It was weird for Rigesh since he was closer in age to the students from Laoshin, but his job with the other two gave them a bigger bond. He didn’t want to stay separated if they were going to be fighting and scavenging together. Their goal was all the same in the end--infiltrate Sogara-dai and returning with information to defeat the Flesh Hoarders. It was dangerous enough that there was a horde of them immune to basic elemental magic, but once they consumed your flesh, they became more powerful and indestructible. If the group were to follow some leads and rumors, they may be able to find something out.

“According to the intel I got before we left, we should be coming up on a post in a few hours that can give us some information about Sogara-dai,” Morio said, finally breaking the silence. “We can stretch our legs and eat some food.”

Nemedion looked up from over the last row of seats, leaning his lean body over to converse. “The University gave us more than enough info about that cursed city.”

Leaning his head on the back of his seat like an impatient child, Rigesh rolled his eyes. His time with the military taught him that asking around was more productive than leaning on certain printed documents. “The University has myths and legends, they don’t have local gossip.”

“I don’t need to trust unreliable gossip from locals that will lie for coins.”

“Those locals will have first hand experience with the cannibals compared to those precious textbooks you worship.”

“What would you even know about a textbook? You will never be able to experience powerful knowledge or magic as a commoner.”

Rigesh turned his whole body in his seat, glaring at the last row at the younger man. “You fail to realize that I created something that you can’t even comprehend nor have the knowledge to use. Come back at me when you’ve designed a multi-elemental pistol capable of killing anti-magic creatures.”

Yahna smirked as she turned to face Nemedion from the second row, placing a spread hand on the back of Rigesh’s seat. “I’m sure as a wealthy noble you’ve created something like that?”

“I have more magic in my pinkie than the three of you outcasts combined,” Nemedion growled, his hands created sparks of magic.

“But they’re right, Nem,” Elanya spoke, breaking up their verbal fight, “they have something that you don’t. You don’t have the ability to wield Sun or Moon Magic and Mr. Altren’s pistol is equipped to get rid of this threat.”

Nemedion huffed, sitting his body down in the back to where he could face Elanya. Like a small child throwing a tantrum, he flailed his hands out toward, motioning to the front of the truck. “You think that we should listen to a commoner’s made-up stories about what happened to Sogara-dai?” he asked.

Elanya looked up at him with a snarl that she could no longer hide. “I think that we should use everything available to us, unless you believe that I, as a commoner, am not worthy of your ears.”

Nemedion wanted to protest, but he had already said enough. He often forgot that Elanya was a commoner, deprived of any noble blood or wealthy influence. Because her skills nearly outmatched his, he always argued that she couldn’t be compared to a normal commoner. 

Knowing that the best mage among them wasn’t someone who held noble blood surprised Rigesh. It would explain why she introduced herself without a noble title when he met her in the University’s clinic. Everyone that attended Laoshin Magic University were either noble, whether their family was in good standing or not, or wealthy children from successful merchants or harvesters. He deduced that she might have been accepted on a scholarship because of her magical talent and being able to use Moon Magic.

Yahna yawned and, in an unladylike motion, stretched her legs across the seat, ignoring Orantal’s protests. Being that she was taller than the younger woman, she felt that she needed more space. “Well, it doesn’t matter whose blood is rich or not, if we don’t make it out of this mission, we will all die the same way.”

“That’s not something I want to think about,” Orantal said, still frowning at the rude woman as she tried to get comfortable.

With magic flourishing around her hand, Yahna created a single flower then began to pluck each petal slowly, one at a time. “Trust me, neither do I. I still have a great life to live and I don’t want to die alongside any of you,” she moved her torso closer to the seat in front of her, sighing as she closed her eyes in a romantic daze, “except with you Rig.”

“You are actually deranged.” Orantal said shivering in disgust.

“Anyway, once we get to the post, we should lie low for our time there and ask the not too obvious questions,” Morio looked thoughtful, his attention still to the dirty road. “We should probably split up and set up camp outside the post.”

The two nobles looked at each other with wary faces. It was obvious that the two weren’t used to travelling in a crowded truck, nor knew the sacrifices of camping outside. Elanya almost pitied her friends as their looks of revulsion was blatant on their faces. Living from village to village, camp to camp, Elanya was all too aware of what their mission entailed. By the neutral looks of Morio and Rigesh, they were either used to it in some capacity or sleeping outside did not bother them. She assumed from their jobs working with a lot of dirt and oils, that this wasn’t a big deal for them. Yahna, while trying to also show a neutral disguise, couldn’t hold her face of disdain away.

“We have the option of staying within the post and you’re suggesting that we sleep outside of it?” asked Nemedion, scratching his head in confusion.

Orantal looked uncomfortable, pursing her lips with reluctance. “I’ve never experienced sleeping outside. It doesn’t really sound enjoyable with all the dirt and bugs.”

“We can have the women sleep in the truck if they feel like they need privacy,” Morio shrugged. “I’m used to the dirt and grime being a mechanic, so this doesn’t bother me none.”

Elanya also shrugged, turning her attention to the welfare and care of her sword, something she had been doing since they left Yulin-dai. She wasn’t sure if she was doing it to be prepared or to distract her from the anxiety settling in the tightness of her chest. “I’m fine with whatever arrangements available.” 

She looked toward her friend with an understanding smile. “Ora, if you want to sleep in the truck, then I will accompany you. I know that you hate being alone.”

Next to Orantal, Yahna scoffed, rubbing her hands together in agitation. “She’ll be with me, how will she be alone?”

Even though she knew better, Elanya turned to Yahna. A slight frown appeared on her face and she struggled with the habit of snarling. “We don’t know you. It would be unwise to let her stay alone with someone that I haven’t fully assessed.”

Rigesh could tell by Elanya’s phrasing that she was trying to be as polite as possible with her words. Her robotic flow wasn’t hard for him or Morio to comprehend--despite being allies, they were unsure of how much faith they could put in each other. Yahna showed the students that their Transit Bureau group could not be fully trusted. Rigesh was going to have to earn their trust, and he was okay with that.

Yahna put her hands up as if she were surrendering. “Alright, I get it. Your snobby group needs more time to trust us.”

“Look who's talking,” Morio mumbled.

They all returned to their uncomfortable silence, but something seemed to be bothering Elanya. She tried to wrap her head around the circumstances of their destination and the berth of its corruption. The information in their textbooks told about the fall of Sogara-dai and how they had been condemned to a dead city. According to the legend, an unknown witch cursed the city due to their boring and easily offended nature, feeling disrespected by their lack of hospitality and warm welcome. To punish the people for being unable to meet her needs, she plagued half the city as Flesh Hoarders, making them desire the flesh of their loved ones in order to survive. It’s implied that the unchanged humans were slaughtered among the chaos, having no survivors, so the Flesh Hoarders had to hunt outside their decayed city for food. Since before the curse was placed, this attack had been the first time that the cannibals had stepped foot into Yulin-dai. 

How did they know when and where to strike the Transit? They were shut off from the rest of the world and never made it past a certain point in the wasteland because their bodies couldn’t handle the constant strain of travelling. How did they make it so far without crumbling? Elanya was sure that these were questions that the University and other Magus Meisters pondered, prompting them to send her and her friends on such a dangerous mission.

From Morio’s intel, it was obvious that the locals near the wasteland hadn’t been chased away and continued on as a major spot for trade and information for the last hundred years in the western part of Gong-dai. There were small villages a few leagues from the outside of Sogara-dai, but none of them had sent any messages to Yulin-dai that there was trouble. Besides the post, Elanya couldn’t think of there being any healthy settlements that were within the days of the decomposing city. If the raging turmoil within Elanya was anything to go by, then maybe her hunch on the last chain of events could be correct. Until they arrived in the post, she decided to think on it later and conserve her strength.

Elanya was having a dream. She awoke in a white space untouched by any color but the colors of her brown skin and dark, red hair. Her hair had grown a tremendous amount, small trains touched the dip in her lower back. She was naked. She didn’t feel cold nor did her body feel warm. Her skin didn’t feel anything at all.

She found herself on her knees, water suddenly beginning to pool around her. The reflection on the water showed her wavy, red curls cuddling her tear streaked face. How could she be crying now when she felt nothing at all? What was going on?

Transfixed to her spot, unable to move, she watched as the water began to rise past her knees then her thighs. Watching the reflection, she saw her face morph into another woman. Her eye sockets were sunken with black blood flowing down her bony, grey cheeks. When Elanya moved, the woman in the reflection moved. The reflection looked around frantically and Elanya swore that she could hear the hard beats of her heart in her chest. Louder and louder the beats sounded, until she confused the sound with beating a large drum.

Help me, the reflection said in a whisper, more black tears trailed down her shaking, skeletal face. Suddenly, it screamed, a black and green mass of bile came from her mouth of the reflection and into Elanya’s.

 

With a start, Elanya jerked awake. Sweat beaded her face. After feeling down her body, she realized that she was drenched in it. Nemedion and Orantal both looked at her with concern. Her breathing was erratic. Her heart was beating too fast for her body to handle. Orantal gripped Elanya’s hands sending waves of soothing magic into her. In a moment, the discomfort that she felt was replaced with a cool chill. She wasn’t burning up anymore, nor was she continuing to sweat. Nemedion cradled her face with his soft hands. She didn’t resist his touch and focused her energy on controlling her breathing.

“I’m fine,” she said, “I’m fine.”

“You were gasping and thrashing in your sleep,” Orantal said, pulsing more magic over her friend, “I tried to wake you, but your shadows kicked in to protect you.”

She may have been in trouble in her dreams, but her magic acted to protect her. Sometimes she believed that her magic had a mind of its own.

“Are you alright?” Nemedion asked.

She nodded, then removed his hand from her face, welcoming fresh, cool air on her cheek. “Yeah, I just had a strange dream.”

“We’re in the post, Algara-daishi. The other three left to look for information while we watched over you.” Orantal explained.

Elanya inhaled then exhaled slowly. “Alright, well, let’s get to work.”

They exited the truck, and although Nemedion objected, they split up while entering Algara-daishi, hoping to sniff out any information at hand. The post was bigger than a town but smaller than a city, which is why it was called a daishi. It held multiple vendors and merchants, all strategically placed around the post, away from the entrances and exits to keep swindling at bay. The design of the overall post was a large circle, surrounded by a large, brick wall. On two opposite sides of the place were tall towers protruding from the wall, possibly used as a lookout. The small houses within were mostly sand bricks, other well to do houses were held together with some basic earth runes. The vendors sold their wares on wooden tables with blankets holding from above acting as tents and a shade. 

It wasn’t a very impoverished city, but they seemed to be making the best of it. The people couldn’t travel past Sogara-dai for international trade with the other regions, while also refusing to go into a nontraditional city such as Yulin-dai, but they made their money from the strew of people living in the area. Some seemed to have straggled in from the southeast residentials where desert had not yet corrupted their land. Back toward the northeast held vast grassland and a stream full of clean water.

Pretending to be invested in the vendors, Elanya walked through the vendor stalls slowly. She dangled some change in front of some poorer merchants, easily taking her bait and spilling any information they had. Most of them were relying on hearsay and a few of them were too forgetful of details of things they heard. She wouldn’t continue to be some unsuspecting bank for their useless info, so she turned to make her way to the more established merchants. 

They eyed her with curiosity, oozing with the desire to take her money. She walked as though she were not in a hurry as before, scanning over fake wares and smiles.  After looking around slowly, she finally found what, or who, she was looking for--a rough looking merchant with a missing right eye. He made no effort to cover his empty socket, ignoring the frightened looks of possible customers. He chewed on some tobacco, spitting it out in front of her, just a few inches from her shoes. Some of his spittle lounged in the dirty curls of his black beard, almost matching his dark skin. He was darker than her by a long shot. His eyes were the color of coal. There was no mistaking that he hailed from Titaneous. She knew who he was, but he didn’t seem to recognize her. At least, he wouldn’t recognize her after fifteen years.

“I don’t have any wares for you, woman,” he said with a thick Titanian accent.

She leaned her hips against his metal table, crossing her arms defiantly. “I need information.”

He jerked his head towards the other vendors with crowds of people around their booths. “Go ask one of ‘em over there. They’ll easily fall for your charms. I ain’t got any time for you.”

“I will not ask you again,” she said in another language, Elraeli. This was the language of the merchants, only a few hundreds of people ranging from the worst merchant to the best knew it.

One eyebrow rose and the one eyed man began to fully take her in. “Oh? Someone so young as yourself knows the Way of the Merchants? I’m impressed, truly.”

Elanya stared at him intently and he relented, shrugging his shoulders and holding out a large dark hand. “I require payment.”

She wasted no time giving him a couple of Duks for information. “Tell me about the Flesh Hoarders that attacked Sogara-dai.”

The man nodded, knowing that her questions would be about the Flesh Hoarders. Word travelled a lot faster than she would have expected. “The word is that they’re running low on food. The remaining population of those fucks can’t eat one another anymore and they haven’t had any good human meat in a while. Some decided to venture out and get some for themselves. A lot of their group apparently didn’t make it,” he pointed back toward a warehouse not far behind the vendors “so people have been collecting the bodies of the ‘dead’ ones and burning their remains since magic seems to work on them then.”

Elanya assumed they were collecting them for other reasons but she held her tongue on that matter. She looked around and flipped a coin up on her hand.

“For a post that’s so traditional and impoverished, you must have enough money to erect a powerful magical barrier.”

Though the man made no surprised movement, nor showed a change in his face, his swallow then spit confirmed her suspicion. Algara-daishi has never been attacked because there was a powerful barrier cemented around it. The Flesh Hoarders went straight past this city and onward to Yulin-dai because Yulin-dai didn’t have magical protection that included Sun and Moon Magic. They had also relied on magictech that would scan for threats, but only if they were living. A suggestion for them testing something new to fight against the dead or other forms of anti-magic should be announced soon.

“Who made this barrier?” she asked.

He shrugged, genuinely clueless. “All I know is that a witch comes every so often to tweak the damn thing, then she’s gone.”

Elanya flipped a coin in the one eyed man’s direction then nodded a goodbye. He followed suit, ending with a merchant saying for a farewell. “Whispers do not fail you.”

Content with everything she heard, she made her way around the small city while she waited to regroup with the others. The information that the man gave her was solid, however she would bet that some of the story was not as true as he thought. Why would some of those monsters leave the wasteland for food for themselves knowing that many of them would not make it back? If they wanted food for themselves, a planned attack like bombing both the ports back in Yulin-dai would be too organized for that logic. No, they did want food for themselves. They wanted food for all of their people back home. Destroying the only two modes of transportation to other international cities would force impatient people to travel through the wasteland, bringing their unsuspecting food to the steps of Sogara-dai.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the loud rumbling of her stomach. It had been a while since she had a meal, much less a snack. Walking in a bit of a hurry to a food vendor, she bought a bowl of warm, thick porridge. In her peripheral, she caught sight of Rigesh hiding in a corner meddling with his black pistol and bought him a bowl to clear some of the tension in the group. 

Watching him work was entertaining. Magic flowed into the pistol with ease and the output it emitted was incredible. As he was chanting a spell to keep his pistol together, she watched the intensity carved on his light brown face. Sweat drenched his black hair, slicking it to the corners of his cheeks. Though his hair was long in the back and short on the sides, the top was held taut in a full volume ponytail, some of the strands sticking to his left ear. When he cast, his green eyes glowed with significant raw power. But soon he faltered, stopping to take a break afterward. Admiring his strength and resolve, Elanya was honored to share her food with him after watching him work so hard.

“Mr. Altren, that’s some fancy work you have going,” she held out the second bowl of porridge to him, “I brought you some food. Thought you would be hungry.”

He reached out to accept her offering and smiled. “Thank you, Miss Shunra.”

“Please call me Elanya, or Ellie, either is fine with me.” She sat next to him on the ground and blew at the steam seeping from her hot porridge.

“Then please call me Rigesh, or Rig, if you want.”

They ate in silence for a bit watching people walk back in droves, complacent with living in their filth. Elanya had never been to this post before but she had heard that the people were happy with anything considering their past. There were rumors that a few of them were descendants of the humans that escaped from Sogara-dai as the city was engrossed by death. It was possible that they were frightened to leave the safety of this post because they wanted to worship the witch that had protected them from further hunt. It sickened Elanya.

“Thank you for giving us a chance,” Rigesh said, breaking the silence, “I can tell you don’t trust easily.”

“Of course, I trust you, Rigesh. You came to my aid at the airport and I’ll be forever grateful.”

“It’s the least I could do for bothering you in the street last week,” he laughed then looked proudly at his pistols, “I just did what I could do. I never knew that my creation could work like that.”

“Do you mind if I see one?” she asked.

He was hesitant at first. Besides when Morio touched his first pistol to make some mechanical adjustments and adding the Water Rune, no one else had held his prize.

“It’s okay if you don’t feel comfortable enough to share with me,” Elanya said. “I know that I wouldn’t allow just anyone to touch Valla.”

Rigesh then thought of an idea. “How about this? If you complete this Water Rune etch on my new and improved black pistol, then you’re welcome to inspect it all you like.”

Elanya’s eyes beamed thoughtfully, probably the first time Rigesh had seen her with a positive expression on her face. He thought her endearing. “Of course,” but then tilted her head in confusion, “but why Water Runes? Are you not proficient in water etching when you’re a Rune Specialist?”

Rigesh scratched his head, embarrassed. “I’ve always been bad at casting Water Magic for some reason, but the Transit Bureau doesn’t seem to mind me sucking at it as long as Morio is with me.”

She held out an open palm to which Rigesh gently placed his black pistol in it. She examined the other runes, and to her surprise, the magic she felt exuded more strength than expected. Rigesh was stronger than the basic magic user even though he couldn’t cast water. She saw the empty spot next to the Earth Rune and pulled out a spare Water Rune from her pouch to work with. She etched with ease, much better than what he could do, Rigesh thought. Once finished, Rigesh inspected his pistol satisfied, whistling at the results.

“I can feel all the elements pulsing through it,” he pointed to the opposite wall, chanting a spell with a pretend target in mind.

Elanya studied his pistol as the slides before the chamber adjusted to align themselves together. He shot out a devastating magical shot, strong enough to destroy the building, but he quickly contained the blast of it with a nicely timed Earth barrier. Pleased with how his black pistol worked similarly to his amber pistol, he handed it back to Elanya who then placed it within her lap.

“This is a very dangerous weapon you’ve created.” She said softly, staring down at the onyx shine of the pistol.

The Magus Meisters would do more than give him proper punishment if they found out that he made that weapon himself, she thought.

“I’ve been working on this for nearly six years now. Once I was able to make these runic slides, the rest came to me easily.”

Biting her tongue for her arrogance, she stopped herself from asking him to go into more details about how he created the runic slides. It would be unwise for him to disclose all his secrets to a stranger like her. In her different interactions with him, she felt comfortable enough to casually speak to him. Her friends were very important to her, but it was nice to speak to someone that was in the same class as her, along with being close in skin tone. Many of the residents of Gong-dai were brown skinned like Rigesh was, but still caramel enough to be several shades lighter than her. Maybe he seemed a little darker from his time outside tanning during work. Elanya knew that her father hailed from Gong-dai, but she didn’t know where. Rigesh was an obvious native, especially with his slanted, green eyes.

“How did you come to learn how to wield a weapon? It obviously isn’t something that’s required by the Transit Bureau.”

Rigesh gave her a sad smile and immediately she regretted asking. The sad smile tugged uncomfortably at her heart. Before she could apologize, he held up a hand and replied, “It’s okay, it’s a sad thing to think about, but I used to be a former Knight in the King’s Army. I specialized in long distance combat with archery and guns.”

“You are not a Knight anymore.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“I left due to some differences with my work and decided that the Transit Bureau was where I could practice my crazy mechanical ideas. Some of our ships move faster because of me, you know.”
Elanya looked pleased. “I can believe that. Now that I am in the presence of a true Knight, I’m embarrassed.”

“A half assed, stubborn Knight,” he added.

“It has been my goal to become an educated Knight, but I would like to actually become a Magus. One powerful enough to study in Magus Town.”

Rigesh snorted. “A Magus? Aren’t they stuck up magical elitists?”

Elanya glared at him. “They are powerful beings who will help me on my quest.”

“A quest?”

Too much had been revealed, so the question was left unanswered. The time had come for them to converge with the others and depart. Briskly walking to their meeting spot, Rigesh followed behind her, hoping that he had not made her too upset. The group quickly came into view. Morio looked at his pocket watch, genuinely impressed that Yahna had made it on time. Nemedion and Orantal made their way to Elanya, though one was annoyed that she had Rigesh following in her trail. Yahna looked annoyed by the sight, too, and she pushed her way past the group to latch onto Rigesh’s arm.

“How could you go on alone without me?” She whined.

Elanya guessed that Rigesh had been hiding in that alley way to have some peace from Yahna and time to work on his pistol. Everyone would have to be blind if they didn’t realize that her affection was one sided. The woman was a leech. If she interfered with their investigation, Elanya would not hesitate to kill the woman and dump her body among the many victims fallen to the Flesh Hoarders if she put the group’s lives in danger. The Dean had given the students permission to dispose of problems for the greater good of humanity, whether it was moral or not.

She felt the woman’s magic and knew that it was average at best. Yahna had a strong insight with her Earth Magic, which could be helpful in defense, but she was still nothing compared to Orantal. She was tagging along because Elanya allowed it--an extra body of magic would always be useful, no matter the skill.

“Let’s talk about what we’ve learned back at the truck,” Morio says pointing toward the entrance.

The six of them settled into the steam truck as Morio started the engine. He divulged the same rumors that Elanya had been given--the Flesh Hoarders were low on food and headed to Yulin-dai for new nutrients. Elanya surmised that it wasn’t just an individual and random attack where a few of them were seeking food. It was a ploy to cause panic within the biggest city in the East to make ignorant and frantic people travel outside of safety of Yulin-dai and into the cruel terrain of the eastern desert. The Flesh Hoarders could then steal more magic without the struggle, as long as non-assuming food was fleeing toward them. 

The group went silent while processing that the attack was timed and calculated. The Flesh Hoarders waited for the most opportune moment to strike, but how did they know when and where to attack? If they hadn’t been able to enter and pass Algara-daishi in the last hundred years, how would they know where new, updated buildings were placed? There could only be two options--magic or there was a mole in Gong-dai who made a deal with the Flesh Hoarders.

“I doubt that it would be anyone from Yulin-dai,” Morio said, “there isn’t anything that any citizen could gain with a deal from a Flesh Hoarder.”

“Maybe a fearful resident of Algara-daishi?” Orantal questioned.

Elanya shook her head. “The port is protected by a magical Moon barrier that repels the Hoarders. None of them seemed pressed by the impending attack as long as their taxes go to the witch erecting the barrier.”

“No other people are threatened by Sogara-dai?” Nemedion asked, scratching his chin in thought.

This time Rigesh shook his head. “The other cities are much further than the port and judging by their struggle compared to Yulin-dai and their need for magic, they won’t go into poorer cities. I don’t even think there are any surviving cities past Algara-daishi.”

According to their map, there were small settlements scattered east of Sogara-dai, but they held barely enough people to sustain wealth, if they even survived the rush of Flesh Hoarders that ravaged to Yulin-dai. Very poor, run down towns or settlements had people that didn’t even have a spark of magic. They would be useful for endless meat, but it seems like the Flesh Hoarders preferred magic.

“There could have been a possible time that a scout survived the journey,” Yahna shrugged while playing with her fingernails, “They could have killed an unsuspecting person, scouted the city, and had enough magic to set back before they rotted.”

Rigesh nodded. “That sounds the most plausible.”

Yahna lit up when Rigesh agreed with her, and like a small child, she stuck her tongue out at Elanya who ignored her. Morio rolled his eyes. “Act like an adult for once, Yahna.”

Rigesh turned to Morio and yawned. “How much longer before we get close to Sogara-dai?”

“I’m thinking about eight more days till we hit straight desert and maybe three more days until we hit the outskirts of the city.”

Orantal sighed then stretched out her short legs, ignoring the pointed look she got from Yahna. “Then I guess I should start getting some sleep.”

“We all should. When I can’t stand to drive anymore, we’ll set up camp.” Morio focused on the road, suppressing a yawn himself.

Everyone agreed. Orantal and Yahna were the first to go to sleep. Rigesh made idle chat with Morio to keep him awake and alert. In the very back of the steam truck, Elanya fought the wariness overcoming her. She couldn’t sleep. She had more questions about the status of Algara-daishi and how they came to employ a witch to make a barrier that strong. Witches usually require a hefty price for their services and the post town was nowhere near wealthy. She wondered if the witch would know anything about the curse set upon Sogara-dai.

“You’re thinking a lot.” Nemedion said cutting through her thoughts with his light voice.

“I’m always thinking, Nem,” she replied.

Nemedion brushed her knees with his hand. “You’ll fry your brain overthinking. You should relax.”

“I can’t.”

“Ellie, you are the most important person in this mission,” he showed her a smirk, “though it pains me to say that as your rival. You have to be alert and straightforward.”

Elanya sighed, gripping tightly onto the sheath of her sword. “I’m just bothered by a lot right now. I’m too high strung to be asleep.”

Nemedion shrugged, then took his glasses off his face to put in between a soft cloth. “Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine, regardless. Much to my dismay, you always come out on top.”

With the last snarky remark, Nemedion fell into a steady slumber. He was upset about something, but she wasn’t sure about what. She could guess that it was because she had been seen talking to Rigesh in the post. Men were such complicated creatures at times, she thought.

 She glanced toward the front to the two outsider men talking. Rigesh was a good man. When she felt his hand after he entrusted his pistol over to her, she felt his magic flourish. It was warm and soothing, with a huge spark of fiery passion. But it was limited. 

There was a block on his magic. She couldn’t identify what it was, but something was holding him back. It could be the answer why he wasn’t able to use Water magic that well, especially when it seemed as though he was more skillful than the average person. Of course she couldn’t sleep when she thought about his internal block. All she could do was beam with excitement when she thought about how he could possibly channel his gun at max power one day.

---

The sparse specks of green that were scattered among the barren wasteland started to tone into yellow, then into a horrid brown. Despite the post being sandy and broken down from the effects of growing rot, it had still been surrounded by fuzzy grassland. As they breached further into the desert land, they found that all life had fled, along with the comfortable breeze. Once it became night again, they wished that the heat would return, preferring it over the bitter chill. Morio finally decided to rest after a day and a half of straight driving and they all agreed that they should set up camp. Instead of setting it up outside, they opted to all sleep in the truck. Rigesh offered his front seat to Nemedion as the man was nearly as tall as he was and was likely squished from being in the back for several hours. Morio laid back in his front driver’s seat, covering his eyes with a green cap marked as part of one of his uniforms from the airport. Orantal crawled to the back with Elanya, cuddling to sharing a red, medium-length blanket. Rigesh thought it a lovely sight till it was ruined by Yahna snuggling up to him. He was too tired to argue with her, but he knew that sleep wouldn’t come to him with this woman under him.

Morio, Nemedion and Yahna were all asleep within minutes. Rigesh was miserable and hot with the unneeded warmth attached to his side. He looked over his shoulder from the back seat to see Elanya rubbing Orantal’s back as the smaller girl started talking about her grievances. While she didn’t seem as spoiled as Nemedion, she was definitely used to a life of comfort. She complained about her hair splitting and drying more than she could handle on her own. She missed having food already cooked for her and the luxury of her full sized bed. Elanya nodded after each complaint, continuously rubbing her friend’s back as she listened intently. There was an air about Elanya that Rigesh had admired. Though she could be icy and aloof, she took her friends into consideration. He wasn’t too sure of her relation with Nemedion yet, but he could see that Orantal was the closest of her friends. Many nobles looked down on commoners but Orantal treasured Elanya. There must be more to the back story of how this particular commoner was able to earn the respect of these two aristocrats.

From the point of view of a former Knight, he would show the utmost respect to any person willing to put themselves in harm's way for the safety of the unsuspecting citizens. The team he was stationed with during his time with the Knights were full of people of different backgrounds. It didn’t take him or the other farm boys long to earn the respect of the nobility in the Knights once they could see the skills they possessed. The affluent Knights tried their best to protect their common comrades from any slander or mistreatment, and it made him proud that the notion didn’t only extend to the people in the King’s army.

“I don’t know how you were able to do this for so long, Ellie. This is the worst experience of my entire life.” Orantal shook her head in disgust.

Elanya didn’t look offended. Instead, she showed her small friend a smile. “It’s something I got used to doing after a while. Just remember that the battlefield will be a lot worse for a healer.”

“But I don’t want to heal on the battlefield.”

Elanya chuckled. “Well, you are registered to a University where most of its students end up going into service of the King or dispatch of the Magus.”

Orantal showed her friend a wry smile and clenched her fists. “You always end up using logic on me.”

Elanya turned her head to look at Rigesh, sending him a knowing look that she knew he was still awake. Unable to adjust his position with Yahna hanging off of him, he sent her a nervous grin and waved. She was barely able to hold back a chuckle at the sight. She nodded her head toward Rigesh while speaking to Orantal.

“Rigesh also knows how hard it is to be stationed outside. You should ask him what he thinks.”

The smaller woman gracefully turned her head to him. Trying to look as though she had much to learn, she closed the space between them, moving bags and clothes out the way, leaning against the back seat. “You don’t find all of this inconvenient?”

He snorted. “Of course, it’s inconvenient. But I’m used to working outside all the time,” he turned his body a bit to face her and smiled, “and Elanya is right. You get used to it after a while. Take these words from an old veteran.”

“Were you in the military?” she asked, curiously.

He nodded. “Yes, until the last couple of years, I was employed as a soldier in the Knights.”

“The Knights?” Orantal gasped a little too loudly. The other three did not stir at her sudden outburst. “The Knights?” She inquired again.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty long story why I’m not still in Zalatine, but yes, I was once apart of the Knights. While I know it’s a big deal, it wasn’t all that.”

Orantal looked toward his pistols tucked away under the front passenger seat. “They say that only the most talented Mages of Aristocrats can join the Knights and few commoners. Your crafting skill is certainly on that level.”

Rigesh shrugged his shoulders. “It took a while to make these babies. But I felt that I was average at best during my time in the Knights. I was certainly a bit rusty when we fought the Flesh Hoarders in the airport.”

Without breaking the stoic look on her face, Elanya tilted her head a bit to look at the man in front of her. She watched as he and her best friend talked about being prepared in nature without everyday luxuries. If his fighting skills at the airport were him being rusty, she was intrigued to see what he could do after a bit of practice. The pistols and the block on his magic were one thing, but she was more impressed by the level of fighting skill he possessed on his own. He exuded strength so much that she could smell the small traces of his magic through her nostrils. Average at best? No, she knew that he could be much more than average. No one from the Knights were average, even commoners. She had spied on a few of them while they were training when she and her father were selling wares in Zalatine. They fought with more than just magic, it was with determination and raw strength. Their magic wasn’t used as an artistic liberty like other mages, but in a harsh, fighting style. She rather liked the way they fought, despite the fact that her father preferred for her to fight with her sword rather than with her magic and fists.

“We have a long leg of the trip to go, why don’t you try getting some sleep, Ora?” Elanya motioned her friend to the pallet beside her. Orantal nodded her head, suppressing a yawn as she crawled over their supplies bags to be next to her friend. After a few more back rubs from Elanya, Orantal closed her eyes and fell asleep.

“You should be getting some sleep as well.” Rigesh said.

Elanya shook her head then turned it to the window. The back window was smudged with hand prints and oil, but she still caught the sliver of white clouds and sparkling stars painted across the dark canvas of the sky. The night was still beautiful no matter how far she travelled.

“I can’t sleep.”

“Too much on your mind?” he asked.

She smirked. “Yes. But I also like watching the night slide across the sky.”

“You’ll be tired in the morning.”

“I’ll deal with it.”

Rigesh chuckled. “You’re too stubborn for your own good.” He shifted himself from under Yahna and placed her against the seat, her head leaning on the door window. He could see her breath creating condensation on the window in the least attractive manner. There may have also been a bit of drool slipping down her pink lips. Waving a lazy hand in the air as a signal to say goodnight, he placed his head against the opposite door window. To keep himself comfortable, he stuck a balled up shirt under his cheek.

Elanya settled next to her friend, pulling their red blanket around them. She waited until Rigesh’s and Orantal’s breathing became steady before she closed her own eyes. Her body couldn’t deny how tired she was even though she kept denying it to everyone else. It was an anxious feeling that she felt--her body would not sleep until she was the last one to go to sleep. The anxiety flushed itself from her as her breathing also began to steady and she fell into a restless slumber.

Not everyone woke when Morio woke up at the beginning of dawn to recommence driving into the desert. Nemedion still sat in the passenger seat, his head still against the window as he slept. Rigesh had managed to separate himself from Yahna as she lay awkwardly on her side in the middle back seat still sleeping. Orantal had always been an early riser and she made small talk with Rigesh who had been conditioned to wake up early due to his job. She asked him more things about being in the Knights and how he liked being in the capital. Elanya laid in the back wrapped in a blanket with her back to the rest of them. While the others thought she slept, she was wide awake with burning eyes and restless breaths. She didn’t want them to see her in such a shape and realize that the confident act that she always put on was a facade. Nerves. It must have been nerves that made her like this, and maybe if she got some sleep then she will feel better later. 

It had been two days since she had that very realistic dream. The sudden shock of it must have been getting to her if she was exhausting herself. While most of it may have been overthinking, something pressed her that all of this was something else entirely from what they are expecting.

Eight more days until their party would hit straight desert. In that time, Elanya would be able to gather her mental strength back, preparing for the worst part of their mission. Eight days is all that she kept whispering to herself that it was enough to prepare for. But barely four days on the road and she had already been emotionally drained. The anguish and anxiety she was feeling while awkwardly wrapped in her fuzzy blanket had started as soon as they left Algara-daishi. She was overthinking again. Just like that time before when she--

“Elanya.”

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of her name. Elanya sat up fully emerged in her blanket and looked at Orantal who gave her a worried look. A lot of time must have passed because now the sun was barely in the sky, hiding behind clouds of blue and purple. Everyone else was settled by a campfire outside of the truck, enjoying a late night meal.

“How long have I been asleep?” she asked her friend.

“You’ve been asleep the whole day. Rigesh said you seemed super tired last night, so he told me to let you rest.” Orantal blew out a harsh breath. “It took stupid Nemedion like fifteen minutes to stop yelling at Rigesh for interfering.”

“I didn’t notice.”

Orantal chuckled. “Of course not, you were out like a light.” She put her hand on Elanya’s shoulders and grimaced. “You really don’t look well though. I feel like you may be shouldering too much and should let us take some of that weight.”

Elanya wanted to argue but she couldn’t find the right words to say. Her friend was right and she was literally thinking herself into exhaustion.

“All of this just doesn’t feel right. I have had a bad feeling about this since we left Yulin-dai.”

“Obviously nothing about any of this feels right. The Dean signed you up for a suicide mission and there are three century old zombies immune to all magic except for yours,” she looked out the window curiously, “and that man’s pistols.”

Elanya managed a small chuckle as she began to unravel herself from her blanket. As she made her way to the camp, the other four companions looked up at her with different expressions. Nemedion quickly jumped up from his uncomfortable spot on a log by a makeshift fire, no doubt created by either Morio or Rigesh.

“Are you alright? I haven’t seen you sleep so heavy like that before.” Nemedion crossed his arms, annoyed.

“I’m fine. I just didn’t realize how tired I was. It’s a little hard to sleep.”

“You’re welcome to sleep in the passenger seat in the front if the back is too uncomfortable for you,” Morio suggested with a concerned look on his face.

Elanya kept a straight face, but she was touched internally by his sentiment. While Yahna seemed to display rudeness at every interaction, Elanya was glad that she could at least converse and rely on Rigesh and Morio.

“I got some extra goods from some vendors when we stopped at Algara-daishi,” Morio started, “why don’t we enjoy it before the rest of this journey gets rougher.”

The group silently crowded around the oldest man as they picked through his pack of goods. Algara-daishi may have been a run down port with a suspicious protection surrounding it, but it didn’t lack in quality goods. As the group feasted on some sweets, the tension began to ease. Morio started talking to Rigesh about Magitech and what their plans would be if they survived this ordeal. Yahna watched on curiously, though she tried her best to look uninterested in such a trivial hobby. Orantal sat closer to the burning fire, basking in the warmth provided from the occasional flickers of light. She opened a textbook about plants and greenland located in Gong-dai. Of course in their travels, as the green began to die, it was hard to see if there were anymore greenland to even study. Elanya and Nemedion looked into the fire together, but the concern on her face distracted Nemedion from relaxing.  It was still an awkward vibe around strangers but it was slowly loosening up, though Nemedion had no desire to talk about personal emotions in front of the three strangers.

Rigesh noticed that Elanya didn’t have such an intensive shield up around her and her friends. He had enjoyed their small talk in the port, though he feared that he offended her when he mentioned his opinion about the Magus being magical elitists. The shield had gone back up, but it wasn’t as cold as when they first travelled together. Elanya had planned to shoulder this burden on her own, forgetting that Rigesh could help her too. It was the reason that he had volunteered to come along. This mission would be a lot better for him if he could just get along with everyone. With Yahna constantly at his heels and the rich boy being a snob, he doubted that this would be easy.

After finishing up being idle, they inquired about someone staying up to keep watch for enemies while everyone rested since they were coming closer to enemy territory.  From their research and reading about Sogara-dai, they knew that the Flesh Hoarder had a range on how far they could travel and they were quickly coming up to it. Orantal decided to call it a night and made her way for the steam truck with Yahna following behind her attempting to act as her protector. Elanya had volunteered to watch in the night. Moon magic worked a lot better at night, especially under any light from the moon. The greyish blue clouds covered the night sky, but occasional holes opened up and the land had been showered with small pockets of light. Nemedion offered to stay up with her while Morio and Rigesh made their way back to the steam car to sleep. Morio quickly fell into slumber with his head on a pillow against his window. Rigesh sat down in the passenger seat and listened to the other two women sleep as he watched the dim campfire. Elanya and Nemedion sat down with their weapons in their laps speaking to one another. He couldn’t understand what the two were talking about, but he was envious at how comfortable they looked talking to each other. Morio was one of his closest friends but there is no way he could have a serious conversation with him while travelling without the older man being paranoid that he could die any moment. Yahna was the last person he could have a meaningful conversation with and he dreaded to think about what would happen if they left him alone with her. In reality, he wished he was with his brigand back in Zalatine. 

Elanya felt a tinge of sadness in the air. She wasn’t sure who was the recipient but she could understand how it feels to be away from home with a chance of not being able to return home. However, she did take the reprieve from being in Yulin-dai and was thankful for the change of scenery, regardless of how much of it seems to be dying.

“What have you been thinking so hard about lately?” Nemedion asked, breaking her thoughts.

Elanya tilted her head to the side until her chin rested in the palm of her hand. She felt her elbow digging into her knees. “Hmm, well besides learning that the Flesh Hoarders’ bodies can be burned once they are dead-dead, it’s hard to believe that the post is protected by a magical barrier. They say a witch comes through every once in a while, which is why they weren’t attacked being so far out.”

“Hmm, a magical barrier strong enough to deter a crazy group of dead cannibals? Sounds like some kind of dark magic.”

She nodded her head and closed her eyes to listen to the crackle of the small campfire. “It’s something much stronger than I can do. There is no way a regular witch would be able to cast such a barrier by herself and there is no way that a Magus would take the time to come all the way out here to protect a small, dank post.”

Nemedion dug his sword into the ground and leaned against it, fiddling around it in idleness. “Something about all of this definitely doesn’t seem right.”

“You’re right about that. I know that the history books the school loaned me won’t really give me anything concrete, but it should give me a better understanding of what we’re dealing with,” she sighed, “and I’m really unsure of what could happen next.”

“Man, all this shit sucks. I would rather be studying in Zalatine working on our report than doing all of this.” Nemedion said, wiggling his sword side to side while in the ground, “It would have been nice to spend time with just you, without all the company.”

Elanya pursed her lips, trying her best not to sound too irritated. “Come on, Nem, don’t do this now.”

“What? I’m just frustrated. I could be trying to change your mind,” he leaned in closer to her and grinned, “but you are too stubborn.”

“I’m not stubborn. I just know my self worth. I am perfectly okay with our relationship being purely platonic. You had your chance before, Nem, and it’s long past.”

“Ellie, I wish you could understand this from my point of view. You should know what I actually want.”

Elanya rose up from the campfire abruptly trying to contain her irritation. The last thing she wanted to do was to misplace her focus. It took too much of her energy to calm down her nerves and allow her irritation to subside. What more could she say to her friend? It was obvious that he had become so delusional in his thinking--so used to getting what he wants--that he could not see reason. He couldn’t understand how he was hurting her? Elanya had moved on, though very sadly, from their talk nearly three months ago. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t do the same. Especially since he knew that he had better prospects than just her.

“I wish you knew what I actually want! All you ever care about is yourself!” She looked down at him with her nose turned up and mouth twisted. “Please, stop bringing this up because I don’t want to deal with this right now. You even bringing all this up has made me exhausted, so I’m going to bed, have fun keeping watch.”

She stormed over to the steam car and carefully opened the doors to the back of the truck, hoping not to wake up the other sleeping passengers. Rigesh was still awake, but he obscured his face in his seat as he watched Elanya aggressively, but silently, make a makeshift pallet in the back of the truck. He didn’t know what her friend had said to her to make her so upset, but he hoped that the unruly man wouldn't be following behind her. His prayers were answered when the dreaded man stayed by the fire, picking at it with a nearby stick. The man had been stuck by both of his friends’ sides like glue, with the exception of their split within the port, and hated when any of the non-students approached them. He didn’t want to assume that the man had an intimate relationship with Elanya, but she hadn’t been too affectionate toward him as she was with her female friend. Rigesh believed the snobby man was getting his just desserts. However, he was starting to become concerned for Elanya. She was starting to look stressed and exhausted. Rigesh wondered if one could become exhausted from thinking too hard. He couldn’t fathom what she could be thinking about to the point where she was enervated, but he assumed that leading a group of people to their ultimate deaths could make someone feel like that.

Rigesh waited for Elanya to settle down into slumber. She slept the whole day away, so it was only natural that she wouldn’t be tired, but her whole aura reeked of exhaustion. He noticed her body slightly trembling, though he couldn’t tell if it was from anger or something else. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes. She looked like an absolute mess. He wanted to calm the young woman’s nerves, but he had hardly gotten to know her. He wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, but the words never left his mouth. Instead, he continued to watch her as she held herself against the back door of the steam truck and she strained her eyes to look out to the dark sky.